Gerry Palmers Tech 03.16.2022 23:Mar PM EDT

Meta, YouTube Removes Zelenskyy Deepfake Video Calling for Ukraine's Surrender

A deepfake video that allegedly showed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surrendering to Russia has been removed by Facebook and YouTube, citing violations of misinformation policies.

Meta, Facebook's parent firm, removed the video, which made Zelenskyy appear to have ordered Ukrainian troops to surrender Wednesday. The company's Head of Security Policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, explained that the video was removed for violating Facebook rules against "manipulative media," Tech Crunch noted in a report. This refers to a type of multimedia misinformation, specifically deepfake videos, which have been edited to show public figures saying things they never actually said.

YouTube, on the other hand, said that the purported Zelenskyy video and reuploads on other accounts have been taken off the video-sharing platform, as it also violated the company's misinformation policies. Twitter is also monitoring how the video is being shared across its platform and said it will take "enforcement action" once the company determines that the content had violated its synthetic and manipulated media policy.

Zelenskyy Deepfake Tells Ukrainians to Lay Down Arms, Surrender to Russia

In the video, which spread online Wednesday, Zelenskyy appeared to be standing behind a presidential podium with the Ukrainian coat of arms in the background. Donning a green shirt, Zelenskyy spoke in Ukrainian, telling his troops to lay down their arms in the weeks-old conflict.

Deepfake videos may appear authentic but are actually fake, doctored representations of the person being shown that have been created using AI technology. Experts have long feared that as deepfakes improved over the years, they will be used to spread misinformation.

While this misleading video may not appear fully altered, there are obvious signs that they are not authentic. This comes as Zelenskyy himself indicated in a video uploaded to the Ukrainian defense Twitter account that he is not surrendering and will continue to fight Russian invaders.

How to Know if Videos are Deepfake: Telltale Signs in Alleged Zelenskyy Video

To know if a video is deepfake, viewers should notice that it is low-resolution and low quality, which is a common ploy to conceal imperfections while creating the video, digital forensics expert Hany Farid of the University of California at Berkeley told CNN. One telltale sign that the Zelenskyy video was a deepfake showed the Ukrainian president looking straight ahead without naturally moving his arms or head. Visual inconsistencies are also observed in such videos, which are created a single frame at a time. And, what makes it more obviously deepfake is that Zelenskyy's voice apparently was far from real.

The video had circulated widely on Facebook's Russian counterpart social media site VKontakte, the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Research Lab stressed in a report. The DFRL also noticed that a pro-Russia Telegram channel posted a deepfake on Wednesday that allegedly showed Zelenskyy wanting to surrender.

In addition to the deepfake video, a TV network in Ukraine reported that its news ticker was hacked, showing a message allegedly from Zelenskyy telling Ukrainians to end their resistance against Russian invaders.